Requiem, Te Deum : Toscanini / NBC Symphony Orchestra, Milanov, Castagna, Bjorling, Moscona (1940)(2CD)

Originally released in 1986, this set was one of our classical best sellers for well over a decade, and was reissued in improved sound in 2003 due to popular demand. Harvey Sachs writes in his liner notes Performances of the Verdi Requiem often emphasize the work's dramatic aspects to the detriment of it's lyricism, or vice-versa. Here, Toscanini balances these elements completely convincingly... we are unlikely to hear a more overwhelming performance of the work than this one ever. Kurt Moses wrote in American Record Guide of the first edition: ... it's the greatest Verdi Requiem I've ever heard, bar none. William H. Youngren wrote in the Christian Science Monitor ... Toscanini [gives us] matchless pacing and shaping of the music... [with] the superb playing of the NBC Symphony... Terry Teach out had this to say in Musical America ... stupendous in virtually every way... Harvey Sachs' liner notes are outstanding. And Thomas Hathaway raved in High Fidelity ... [Toscanini's] 1940 concert of the Requiem was at once relaxed and powerful, and it remains one of the greatest on record.